Finally a blog entry about our trip across the pond

Well as most of you know Bill and I took a trip to England a few weeks back. I have finally had some time to blog about it. I took a ton of pictures; I put a lot in this blog but trust me there are so many more where those came from. I had a bunch of things to remember to blog about and I think I lost the list. The history, of course, is amazing. Bill and I would go to this pub in Cambridge most nights for a pint (Bill) and dessert (Katie) which has been opening serving Cambridge since 1525. It was the same pub that Watson and Crick went to after long hours in their lab working to discover DNA. Cambridge had a ton of free museums that I went to while Bill was at 'work' and one of them had Darwin's original microscope in it. We went to the Tower of London, Windsor Palace and the British Museum. All were so fabulous if you were on the right side of history. You can't help but think walking around these places how great it would have been to be royalty and how lousy it would have been to not be royalty; and even being royalty could stink if everyone turned on you and then chopped your head off. The British Museum has amazing collections of artifacts from all over the world that the British basically stole in the name of the monarch or of archaeological preservation or because they could. They have almost 1/2 the edifice sculptures from the Parthenon; amazing yet stolen. Bill kept saying, 'how'd they get this? how'd they get that?' 'stole it' i'd answer. That isn't true about everything but you can acquire a lot of stuff when at one time the sun never set on your kingdom.

The main reason we went was Bill is working with a professor at Cambridge to revamp how communication is taught to Iowa medical students. They have a wonderfully different system there and one that Bill is working to implement here at our medical school. He has an AMAZING time and learned a ton. Every morning when we were in Cambridge, we'd eat breakfast together, he would then get on the U4 bus and take it to the hospital for a day worth of seminars, lectures and observation. The trip for him was a huge success and he really is excited about getting more of this type of curriculum started here. I spent my days drinking decaf coffee and tea, studying for my board re-certification, walking all over campus, taking tons of pictures, reading, having naps. It was delightful.

My friend, Lizzie, and her husband Paul live in London so we got to spend some time sightseeing with them which was so fun. What wasn't so fun is that Great Britain (which includes Wales and Scotland-- not to be confused with the United Kingdom which then includes Northern Ireland) had the worst winter storm in 20 years. Snow enough to shut the place down. The weather channel promised 45 and sun so we didn't take winter coats only fall-type coats. We were frozen most of the time. Luckily I threw in gloves and hats at the last minute 'just in case'. However, despite the weather, all in all it was a great trip.

Here begins the montage of pictures

First stop with my American friend, Lizzie as tour guide. the statue of George Washington at Trafalgar Square. Apparently it in on "American soil" because he made some comment about never stepping foot in England againlook kids, Big Ben, Parliament Westminster Abbey

good shot of Big Ben with the London Eye (Ferris wheel) in the background

Bill and I outside Buckingham Palace

a better view of the palace

a totally creeping tribute to Princess Di and Doti Fayed in Harrrods. Harrods is a huge famous department store owned by the Fayed's. the wine glass in the pyramid is apparently what they last drank out of and it has mold in it- ick. creepy.

platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station where Harry Potter and the rest of the gang catch the Hogwarts express. they even have a sawed in half luggage cart sticking out of the wall as if the other half is on the platform. clever on the station's part because you know a ton of tourist flock there every year looking for platform 9 3/4. we left and returned on the train from platform 10. when we got back there was a boy about 8 years old banging on the brick wall, 'let me in. let me in' - it was really cute.

and the snow has hit Cambridge. this town was so adorable and even more so with a few inches of fresh snow. i took about 60 pictures after dropping Bill off at the bus on his 'first' day

the chapel at St John's College. at Cambridge University they have individual colleges which you apply specifically to and gain admission to that college and thus the university. you live and eat in your college and have private tutorials with a faculty member for your specific course of study who is affiliated with your college. Prince Charles was in Trinity College. Stephen Hawkins is still a faculty member of Corpus Christi College. each college is amazing with chapels and old buildings and courtyards. American Ivy League school have something similar I think called 'eating clubs'. after seeing where some of these students eat and play makes my residence hall and cafeteria at Iowa seem really lame.

the grand daddy of the chapels is this, Kings College Chapel. our first night there the professor who Bill was working with took us to evensong at this chapel. they have a evensong service every night lit by candle light with this amazing choir. the service was very liturgical and steeped in history. the inside is absolutely beyond description. it was one of my most fun memories our of trip.

here is another picture of Kings College Chapel

love the "Royal Mail Box". everyone in Cambridge rides bikes. this is my attempt of an artistic photo.

down the street in Cambridge

inside of St Bonthas church which has been open to worshippers since 1320

the outside of this old old church

our hotel was right on the river. in better weather these boats are available to go 'punting' which is kind of what you expect from canals in Venice. everyone sitting down and one guy pushing the boat along with a long stick

Cambridge has a really cool open air market right in the city centre every day. Flower vendors, food, shoe repair, used books, hand made jewelry and crafts. It was really fun to walk around despite being freezing.

another college building in one of the oldest colleges at the University

this building was at Peterhouse which is the oldest college opening in like 1209 or something crazy like that.

this is a wonderful kind of creepy new clock right down town. a gift from Corpus Christi College presented by Stephen Hawkins; it cost over 2 millions pounds (over 3 million $ depending on the exchange rate). it has this huge grasshopper on the top who is 'eating time'. it stops everyone once in a while I was told to remind us that time is relative.

back to London we go. Bill and I went to the Tower of London first and next to that is Tower Bridge.

couldn't help myself. a royal guard. not in red because of the cold, i suspect, gray are their winter coats.

here is a shot of the outside of the building at the Tower of London which holds the crown jewels.

the Tower of London is like a village inside where folks still live- the guards etc. these giant ravens were all over. apparently at one time some king wanted to get rid of the ravens but was told there is a prophecy that if the ravens stay, England would not be overtaken by enemies to the East (France?/ Spain?) so the ravens stayed. they were gigantic and have their own guard who feeds them. Gabby collects stuffed animals so we got her a stuff raven.

another view from inside the Tower grounds

here is a nice commemorative piece of artwork to where the scaffold used to be and Anne Boelyn and others got their heads chopped off

another shot of us and the Tower Bridge

the moat around the Tower of London

remains of the old Roman Wall built, of course, by the Romans when the Roman Empire ruled the world

off to the British Museum. their main attraction, most would say, is a piece of the actual Rosetta stone. it was amazing to see.

and arm and hand from some gigantic Egytpian statue that I made Bill give 'knucks' too so you could see how big it is

part of the carved facade from the Parthenon

a really old Mummy

on the Tube we go to meet Lizzie and Paul for our last day when we went to Windsor

the only picture Bill really wanted was us by a red phone booth Windsor Castle is apparently Queen Elizabeth's favorite 'house'. it was really impressive. it sustained a 'great fire' in the early 1990s and part of the inside has been redone. one room we went through has this ornately designed wooden floor which did not burn all the way but got charred. they simply just picked up each piece of wood and turned it over so the floor still looks amazing.

more shots of Windsor

looking into the Courtyard which was closed for some renovation

Hershey PA has hershey kisses for street lights, these all had a little crown on them

Bill loved the gargolyes and here is a good shot of one

on the L is this amazing chapel on the grounds of Windsor Castle. I can't remember it's name. Charles and Camilla were married there. The queens's parents are buried there along with lots of other old people buried in the floor including King Edward VIII.

we then went of tea at the "Crooked House of Windsor" which is literally a little crooked house. here is a picture of our scones with clotted cream and jelly we had with our tea

and a picture of the crooked house

Lizzie and Phil overlooking the Thames

cute pic of us

we flew in and out of Terminal 1 at Heathrow. this is, I'm almost 100% positive, where they filmed the airport scene from Bend it Like Beckham when the coach did that super nerdy run down the hall to kiss the girl and the girls thought they saw Beckham and Posh Spice walking above them in the glass walkway. i got these pics taken seconds before i got in trouble saying not pictures allowed.

thanks for hanging in there with a zillion pics. i promise not to post this many pictures again until Lucas is born and then i may not be able to help myself :-)